Hollow collapsible fishing rod with fishline guide

Abstract: A fishing rod has rod a plurality of sections (1, 2 and 3), a fishline guide (6), and fishline guide rings (9a - 9e). The rod sections include an inner passage (P) through which fishline is to extend, a reel mount to which a reel is attached, and a fishline guide hole (2a). The fishline guide (6) is placed between the reel mount (5) and the fishline guide hole (2a) for guiding the fishline (L) to the fishline guide hole (2a). The fishline guide rings (9a-9e) are fitted to a guide portion of the fishline guide (6), a rim of an opening of the fishline guide hole (2a), and a rim of a rear opening of the inner passage (P) close to the fishline guide hole.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a collapsible fishing rod, and more particularly, it relates to a hollow collapsible fishing rod which has a fishline guide for guiding a fishline from a reel into a fishline passage defined within the hollow fishing rod. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART Hollow fishing rods where a fishline extends through a portion of the hollow fishing rod are known. Typically in such a rod, a fishline passage is defined within the hollow portion of the rod and a hole near a butt section of the rod allows the fishline to extend out of the hollow interior of the rod where it can be wound and unwound from a reel attached to the butt section of the rod. While fishing with such a rod, the fishline is cast and wound in from the reel repeatedly. Usually, fishing rod reels include a mechanism which causes the fishline to oscillate as it is being wound and unwound from the reel, so that the fishline is wound up evenly on the reel. During the casting and winding process, the fishline makes repeated contact with the rim of the hole as is passes back and forth from the reel to the hole in the rod due to the oscillation of the reel mechanism. The oscillating fishline rubs against the rim of the hole and creates friction resistance. Consequently, the friction resistance interferes with smooth winding and unwinding of the fishline. Some reels are what is known as a spinning reel. A portion of the reel mechanism rotates or spins about an axis that generally coincides with the movement of the fishline as it winds and unwinds off the reel. In this instance, the fishline, due to the spinning of the reel, spirals as it is wound and unwound from the reel. Consequently, the fishline likewise contacts the rim of the hole in the rod. Further, when fishline is unwound from a spinning reel, it may come off the reel with curly or curved shape. The associated uneven contour of the fishline may also cause the fishline to rub against the rim of the hole in the rod causing friction resistance. The friction resistance interferes with smooth unwinding the fishline. FR-A-2539582 discloses a basic internal line fishing rod with constituents designed to lead a line into the rod. This document does not address arranging these constituents in such a way as to restrain the fish line from contact with the aperture. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One object of the present invention to reduce friction resistance on fishline at a fishline guide hole for smoothly winding and unwinding the fishline. In one aspect of the present invention an internal-line collapsible fishing rod comprises a telescopic butt portion having a bore and an apically peripheral aperture communicating with the bore, said butt portion formed with a basally peripheral reel mount for retaining a reel; a telescopic tip assembly having concentric sections collapsible into a hind section terminating in a hind grommet defining a hind grommet inner diameter, said hind section insertable into the bore of said butt portion, wherein said hind grommet is adjacent the apically peripheral aperture of said butt section; a fish line standing guide mounted on said butt portion intermediate the apically peripheral aperture and the basally peripheral reel mount at a standing distance from said butt portion, said fish line standing guide having a guide grommet defining a guide grommet inner diameter delimiting maximum travel width of a fishline riding on the guide grommet wherein a variable fishline track is defined between the standing guide and the hind grommet characterized in that the standing distance and the guide grommet inner diameter of said fish line standing guide; the apically peripheral aperture; and the hind grommet inner diameter are in a configuration predetermined such that, in reeling and casting, fish line spooling onto and from a reel mounted on the reel mount and threaded through said guide grommet, the apically peripheral aperture and said hind grommet is restrained from contacting opposed portions of the aperture adjacent the fish line over the variable fish-line track. In an embodiment of the present invention, the rod also includes a hollow tip portion that is telescopically mounted to the butt portion defining a fishline inner passage that extends from the tip portion to the butt portion hollow interior adjacent to the fishline guide aperture. A fishline guide provided between the reel mount portion and the fishline guide aperture, wherein a fishline is extendible from the reel mounted portion, through the fishline guide and the fishline guide aperture, into the hollow extent of the butt portion, and through the inner passage of the hollow tip portion. A guide fitting is provided in the fishline guide, a guide fitting is provided in the fishline guide aperture, and a guide fitting is provided in the hind end opening of the hollow tip portion. Preferably, the guide fittings are made of a rigid ceramic material. The fishline guide aperture is formed such that casting and reeling a fishline passing between the fishline guide and the hind end opening of the hollow tip portion contacts neither fore nor hind portions of the fishline guide aperture. The butt portion includes, in one embodiment a hind butt section provided with the reel mount and a telescoping fore butt section, telescopically extendable from and collapsible into the hind butt section. The fishline guide aperture is formed in the telescoping fore butt section. Further, the fishline guide is attached to the hind butt section. In another embodiment, the fishline guide is attached to the telescoping fore butt section. In another embodiment of the present invention the fishing rod includes a main rod, a fishline guide, and a plurality of fishline guide rings. The main rod has an inner passage through which fishline is to extend, a reel mount to which a reel is attached, and a fishline guide hole formed before the reel mount for guiding the fishline from the reel on the reel mount to the inner passage. The fishline guide is placed between the reel mount and the fishline guide for guiding the fishline to the fishline guide hole. The fishline guide rings are fitted to a guide portion of the fishline guide, a rim of an opening of the fishline guide hole, and a rim of a rear opening of the inner passage close to the fishline guide hole. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the fishline guide rings are fitted on to the rod to keep the portion of the fishline that is on the exterior of the rod, spaced apart from the rod. As a result friction resistance on the fishline can be reduced. In addition to that since the fishline guide is placed between the fishline guide hole and the reel mount, oscillation of the fishline is inhibited before the fishline is guided into the fishline guide hole or when it is drawn out of the fishline guide hole, and thus, the fishline is no longer contacts the guide ring at the fishline guide hole. In this way, friction resistance on the fishline can be further reduced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1A is a fragmentary side elevation of a telescopic hollow fishing rod, shown partially collapsed, in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 1B is a fragmentary side elevation of the rod, similar to Fig. 1A, shown with a butt telescoping section fully extended; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, part section, part elevation of the fishing rod as in Figs. 1A and B, showing a portion of the rod having a fishline guide ring and a guide hole, wherein one portion of a tip section of the rod is fully extended and the remaining portions of the tip section are completely collapsed; Fig. 3A is a fragmentary side elevation of an intra-line fishing rod, having separate telescopic tip and a telescopic butt portions, shown with the tip portion partially extended and butt portion collapsed, with the tip portion shown again in phantom removed from the butt portion, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 3B is a fragmentary side elevation of the rod, similar to Fig. 3A, shown with the butt telescoping section fully extended; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, part section, part elevation, similar to Fig. 2, of another embodiment of the present invention, showing a fishline guide ring and a modular guide tube, wherein the basal portion of the tip section is fully extended and the remainder of the tip sections are completely collapsed; and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, part elevation, part section of a tip-to-butt joint portion of a fishing rod in accordance with still another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings where like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout, in which a telescopic fishing rod, shown in Figs. 1A and 1B, includes a hind butt section 1 having a telescoping butt section 2, and a telescopic tip assembly 3 having three telescoping sections. The telescopic tip assembly 3 includes a fore tip section 11 capped by a tip guide 10, a mid tip section 12, and a hind tip section 13, in order of increasing diameter. Referring to Fig. 2, the telescopic tip assembly 3 is shown fully extended with respect to the telescoping butt section 2, while the tip sections 11, 12 of the assembly 3 are fully collapsed into the hind tip section 13. The three tip sections 11, 12, and 13 define an interior passage P which serves as a fishline passage. Returning to Fig. 1, a reel mount 5 provided on an exterior surface of the hind butt section 1, retains a reel 4. At an end of the telescoping butt section 2 opposite the reel mount 5 is a fishline guide hole 2a. A fishline L extends from the reel 4 into the interior passage P, via the guide hole 2a, as shown in Fig. 2. The guide hole 2a is provided with a grommet 9a mounted therein. A fishline guide 6 is provided behind the fishline guide hole 2a. The fishline guide 6 comprises an upright portion 7, peripherally fixed to the telescoping butt section 2. The upright portion 7 supports a rigid grommet 9b mounted therein, having a guidehole 8. The grommet 9b guidehole 8 is formed with a curved rim surface 8a. Referring specifically to Fig. 2, rigid grommets 9a and 9b, preferably made of ceramic, are shown to rim the fishline guide hole 2a, and the guide hole 8 of the fishline guide 6, respectively. A tubular plastic fitting 15 is screwed fixedly into a hind end of the hind tip section 13. A rigid grommet 9c is fitted into a hind opening of the tubular plastic fitting 15, defining a hind opening 13a in the tip section 13. When the tip assembly 3 is collapsed, a hind end of the fore tip section 11, into which a rigid grommet 9d is fitted, is seated within the fitting 15. Furthermore therein, a hind end of the mid tip section 12, into which a rigid grommet 9e is fitted, is seated on an interior rim of a fore end of the fitting 15. The relative positions of the hind opening 13a of the hind tip section 13, the fishline guide hole 2a, and the fishline guide 6, are set within constraints for optimal performance of the hollow fishing rod in spin casting and reeling in fishline. The phantom lines in Fig. 2 indicate the tracks L 1 , L 2 of fishline L riding on uppermost and lowermost portions of the grommet 9b rimming the guide hole 8a, and on the uppermost portion of the grommet 9c in the hind opening 13a of the hind tip section 13, as the fishline travels through the fishline guide 6 while the line is reeled in or out. The tracks L 1 , L 2 indicate that the reeling or casting fishline contacts neither the fore nor the hind portions of the grommet 9a rimming the fishline guide hole 2a due to the position of the grommet 9b and the guide 6. The fishline guide 6 inhibits oscillation of the fishline in reeling in or casting out reducing frictional drag on the fishline by preventing it from contacting the grommet 9a rimming the fishline guide hole 2a. Moreover, the rigid grommets are provided where the fishline regularly is in contact with the guide features of the rod, to reduce frictional drag further. When the telescoping butt section 2 is fully extended from the rear butt section 1, for instance, when in use, the fishline guide 6 in this embodiment guides the fishline to prevent contact with the telescoping butt section 2, preventing the rod itself from hindering casting/reeling performance. When threading fishline L from the reel 4 through the hollow of the fishing rod in this embodiment, the line L is introduced through the guide hole 2a into the passage P. While the tip assembly 3 is extended, and its telescoping component sections 11, 12 collapsed into the hind tip section 13, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the hind ends of the sections 11, 12, and 13 are positioned close to the fishline guide hole 2a. In this partially collapsed state, the respective openings or the grommets 9c, 9d, and 9e are easily and readily threaded with the fishline. After insertion of the fishline L into the portion 3, the rod can be fully extended and used without significant difficulty or worry about feeding the fishline through the extended rod, since feeding the fishline is easily accomplished when the rod is only partially extended. Fig. 3 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention. In this other embodiment, the fishline guide 6 is fixed to the hind butt section 1. A telescoping butt section 2 and an independent telescopic tip assembly 3 separable due to a releasable joint connection. The remaining features in the fishing rod configuration are similar to those of the above-described embodiment. In this embodiment, the fishline guide 6 does not move with the telescoping butt section 2 when the latter is extended, such that the distance between the fishline guide 6 and the reel 4 remains fixed throughout the act of telescopically extending or collapsing the butt of the fishing rod. In still another embodiment of the present invention, shown in Fig. 4, a telescoping butt section 20 of a collapsible hollow fishing rod is formed with a top surface opening 20a. The butt section 20 is provided with a fishline guide element 21 fitted into the top-surface opening 20a. The guide element 21 is formed with a diagonal hole 21a. The diagonal hole 21a extends from the outer surface of the butt section 20 to the interior of the butt section 20 and provides a passage which allows a fishline L to extend from the hollow interior of the rod to a reel (not shown) attached to the butt section 20. A guide tube 22 is fitted into a forward portion of the diagonal hole 21a, protruding into the fishing rod hollow interior. A rigid grommet 23 is fitted into the exterior end of the hole 21a. The collapsible hollow fishing rod of this embodiment further includes a telescopic tip assembly 3 similar to that of the foregoing embodiments. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, depicted in Fig. 5, a plurality of fishline guides are provided on the butt section 2 of a fishing rod. On the sectional, hollow fishing rod, a primary fishline guide 6 is mounted on the section 2 of the rod a distance behind fishline guide hole 2a. A secondary fishline guide 25 is situated between the guide hole 2a and the primary fishline guide 6, angled toward the guide hole 2a, and thus closer to the rod than the primary fishline guide 6. The configuration of a fishing rod according to this embodiment further prevents fishline from oscillating laterally in casting or reeling. Each of the rigid grommets rimming the fishline guides/holes in the embodiments as described above preferably will have an inner diameter of 2 mm or less. Various details of the invention may be changed without departing from its scope and the foregoing description of the embodiments according to the present invention is provided for the purpose of illustration only, and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims: An internal-line collapsible fishing rod comprising a telescopic butt portion having a bore and an apically peripheral aperture (2a) communicating with the bore, said butt portion formed with a basally peripheral reel mount (5) for retaining a reel (4); a telescopic tip assembly (3) having concentric sections collapsible into a hind section (13) terminating in a hind grommet (9c) defining a hind grommet inner diameter (13a), said hind section insertable into the bore of said butt portion, wherein said hind grommet (9c) is adjacent the apically peripheral aperture (2a) of said butt section; a fish line standing guide (6) mounted on said butt portion intermediate the apically peripheral aperture (2a) and the basally peripheral reel mount (5) at a standing distance from said butt portion, said fish line standing guide (6) having a guide grommet (9b) defining a guide grommet inner diameter (8a) delimiting maximum travel width of a fishline (L) riding on the guide grommet (9b) wherein a variable fish-line track (L 1 ;L 2 ) is defined between the standing guide (6) and the hind grommet (9c) characterized in that: the standing distance and the guide grommet inner diameter (8a) of said fish line standing guide (6); the apically peripheral aperture (2a); and the hind grommet inner diameter (13a); are in a configuration predetermined such that, in reeling and casting, fish line (L) spooling onto and from a reel (4) mounted on the reel mount(5) and threaded through said guide grommet (9b), the apically peripheral aperture (2a) and said hind grommet (13a) is restrained from contacting opposed portions of the apically peripheral aperture (2a) adjacent the fish line over the variable fish-line track (L 1 , L 2 ). A fishing rod according to Claim 1 wherein said butt portion comprises a hind butt section (1) provided with said reel mount (5); and a telescoping fore butt section (2), telescopically extendable from and collapsible into said hind butt section (1), having said aperture (2a) formed therein. A fishing rod (1) according to Claim 2 wherein said fishline guide (6) is attached to said fore butt section (2). A fishing rod (1) according to Claim 2 wherein said fishline guide (6) is attached to said hind butt section (1). A fishing rod (1) according to any preceding claim wherein said grommets (9b;9c) are formed of a ceramic material. A fishing rod (1) according to any preceding claim wherein said fishline guide (6) is formed of a ceramic material. A fishing rod (1) according to any preceding claim comprising a plurality of telescopic sections (11;12;13) collapsible within said one telescopic section.

Inventors: MATSUMOTO KIYOHIKO, YASUI TOSHIHIKO, MATSUMOTO, KIYOHIKO, YASUI, TOSHIHIKO
Applicants: SHIMANO KK, SHIMANO INC.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: A01K87
IPC codes: A01K87